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The OPERA experiment, designed to search for νμ→ντ oscillations, reached its main goal by observing the appearance of ντ in the CNGS νμ beam. Thanks to its location in the underground Gran Sasso laboratory, under 3800 m.w.e., it has also been exploited as an observatory for TeV muons produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. In this paper the preliminary measurement of the annual modulation of the atmospheric muon flux with the OPERA detector is reported.

The OPERA experiment reached its main goal by proving the appearance of tau-neutrinos in the CNGS muon-neutrino beam. A total sample of 5 candidates fulfilling the analysis defined in the proposal was detected with a S/B ratio of about ten allowing to reject the null hypothesis with a significance of 5.1 σ. The search was extended to ½T-like interactions failing the kinematical analysis defined in the experiment proposal, to obtain a statistically enhanced, lower purity, signal sample. One such interesting neutrino interaction showing a double vertex topology with a high probability of being a tau-neutrino interaction with charm production will be reported. Based on the enlarged data sample the estimation of (math) in appearance mode is presented. The search for ½e interactions has been extended over the full data set with a more than twofold increase in statistics with respect to published data. The analysis of the νμ → νe channel is updated and the implications of the electron-neutrino sample in the framework of the 3+1 sterile model is discussed. An analysis of the νμ → ντ oscillations in the framework of the sterile neutrino model has also been performed.

The atmospheric muon charge ratio, defined as the number of positive over negative charged muons, is a highly informative observable both for cosmic rays and particle physics. It allows studying the features of high-energy hadronic interactions in the forward region and the composition of primary cosmic rays. In this review results from underground experiments measuring the charge ratio around 1 TeV are discussed. The measurements in the TeV energy region constrain the associated kaon production, which is particularly important e.g. for the calculation of the atmospheric neutrino flux.

The OPERA experiment has observed muon neutrino to tau neutrino oscillations in the atmospheric sector in appearance mode. Five ντ candidate events have been detected, a number consistent with the expectation from the “standard” 3ν framework. Based on this result new limits on the mixing parameters of a massive sterile neutrino have been set. The analysis is performed in the 3+1 neutrino model.

The OPERA experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory was designed to study vμ → vτ oscillations in appearance mode in the CNGS neutrino beam. Five vτ candidate events have been observed, allowing to assess the discovery of vμ → vτ transitions in the atmospheric sector with a significance of 5.1σ. In this paper the vτ data analysis will be discussed, with emphasis on the background constraints obtained using dedicated data-driven control samples. Results on the search for vμ → vτ oscillations, on the search for sterile neutrino mixing and on the atmospheric muon charge ratio will also be presented.

Euclid is an ESA mission designed to understand why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating and what is the nature of the dark energy responsible for this acceleration. By measuring two cosmological probes simultaneously, the Weak Gravitational Lensing and the Galaxy Clustering (BAO and Redshift-Space distorsions), Euclid will constrain dark energy, general relativity, dark matter and the initial conditions of the Universe with unprecedented accuracy. Euclid will be equipped with a 1.2 m diameter SiC mirror telescope feeding 2 instruments: the visible imager and the Near-Infrared Spectro-Photometer. Here the Euclid's observation probes and main aims are recalled, and the NISP instrument and expected performances are presented.

We present a review of past measurements of the vertical atmospheric muon charge ratio above 1 TeV. In particular we focus on the latest OPERA data which confirm with a higher statistical significance a drop of the charge ratio above ∼3 TeV. We attempt to interpret the result in terms of possible physical mechanisms that could manifest itself in this energy region.

Increasing the applications of industrial by-products is of great interest. Therefore, in the present study, sunflower oil cake from a local oil manufacturing company was used to obtain soluble protein concentrates and isolates with different content of phenolic compounds. All the extraction procedures evaluated resulted in concentrates and isolates with water solubility higher than 75% but with different chemical composition, color and physicochemical properties (i.e. surface hydrophobicity, thermal stability, and polypeptide composition). Since no extraction process led to a complete extraction of phenolic compounds, all the products exhibited antioxidant activity, which depended on the concentration of such compounds. Phenolic compounds give a dark color to sunflower protein concentrates and isolates; nevertheless their final color tone was more dependent on the conditions used in the preparation process than on the amount of phenolic compounds in the product. The results demonstrate the value of sunflower industrial oil cake as a source of proteins with high water solubility, good physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity.

Nowadays, there is a pronounced interest in the potential use of biopolymer/layered silicate systems as active food packaging. This manuscript studied the effect of clove essential oil addition to soy protein–montmorillonite (MMT) films on the material’s structure, functionality, and active release. Active nanocomposite films were prepared by casting from aqueous dispersions containing soy protein isolates (SPI), glycerol, different concentrations of MMT and clove essential oil. Besides the important antioxidants and antimicrobial properties provided to nanocomposite films, the addition of clove essential oil exerted a plasticizing effect, which was verified in a decrease in the tensile strength and elastic modulus (up to 50 and 75 %, respectively) and an increase of the water content of films (up to 20 %). But the nanoclay caused a further strengthening effect in films containing CEO. While nanocomposite films containing 10 g MMT/100 g SPI reached an increase of 105 and 200 % in tensile strength and Young’s modulus, respectively, and a decrease of 340 % in their elongation at break, those that also contained CEO reached higher variations (230, 345, and 290 %, respectively). Clove essential oil presence also favored the exfoliation of montmorillonite into the soy protein matrix, while the nanoclay seemed to promote the release of active compounds, occasionally modifying the antimicrobial activity of films as well as the release of some of its Si and Al ions after being in contact with water (at least twice).

The next generation of neutrino experiments requires measurements of absolute neutrino cross sections at the GeV scale with high precision (∼1%) presently limited by the uncertainties on neutrino flux. Monitoring the lepton production in the decay tunnel of neutrino beams is the most straightforward way to measure the neutrino flux at source. The ENUBET Collaboration develops novel technologies to monitor positrons from K+ → νee+π0 decays on an event by event basis. This technique can achieve a precision in the νe flux below 1% and enable a new generation of cross section and short baseline experiments. In this paper, we present the achievements of the first year of the Project on beamline simulation, rate and dose assessment, detector prototyping and evaluation of the physics reach.